Thursday, April 4, 2024
The Best New Albums from Around the World (May 2024)
Our Top of the World – the best new albums reviewed in the May 2024 issue of Songlines
Features
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Cara de Espelho: Time to Protest
Alarmed by the far-right surge, Cara de Espelho have gathered members of some of Portugal’s best-loved bands to create something new, and urgently needed. Gonçalo Frota meets the group and attends one of their first shows
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Introducing: Mohammad Syfkhan
After tragedy, the Kurdish musician left Syria for Ireland. There he found a community of musicians. “I love them,” he tells Daniel Spicer
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Report on Riyadh International Jazz Festival 2024
Robin Denselow heads to Saudi Arabia to find integrated crowds, local groups searching for an identity and a very surprising rush to the stage
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Marina Satti: Eurovision bound
Mateusz Dobrowolski checks in on the vocalist representing Greece at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Spotlight: Mexican Institute of Sound
Camilo Lara, by now a ‘certified’ Mexican institution, tells Celeste Cantor-Stephens about 20 years of going against the grain, upsetting scrap collectors and Disney-endorsed success
Thursday, April 4, 2024
The Afghan Youth Orchestra offer hope in troubled times
Encounters with the Afghan Youth Orchestra find Simon Broughton upbeat about the state of the region’s traditional music
Thursday, April 4, 2024
EMEL interview: “I’m not interested in that inherited feeling where women are rivals anymore”
EMEL’s latest album sees her work with a completely female team to make one of the most unapologetically forthright and adventurous albums of the year
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Middle Eastern Frequencies
The vibrant experimental music scenes across the MENA region continue to inspire and innovate on their own terms, despite the instability around them. Oli Warwick finds out more
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Sahra Halgan interview: “I want to show the world how strong our country’s women are”
On returning to her native Somaliland, Sahra Halgan reflects on a voyage of struggle, activism and discovery, marked by a chance encounter with an unlikely French musical family and a drive for positive change
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Lonnie Holley's My World: “I keep seeing what’s happening in the world and trying to make music about it”
Doug DeLoach speaks to the sculptor, painter and musician who prioritises improvisation, with lyrics summoned on the spot and no two shows the same
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Ian Brennan's Hidden Tales
A selection of excerpts from this new book, collecting stories behind some of the most singular albums that we have had the privilege of hearing
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Fireside Stories with Dele Sosimi: “Fela was a radical who taught us about radicality. I still miss him”
Dele Sosimi spent the 80s globetrotting with Fela, even taking the reins of his 20-piece band, bringing joy and peace to Lagos’ chaotic commune where they lived, played and partied
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Eliza Carthy's News of the Whirl: ‘I am firmly on the side of engaging and I enjoy following my peers and fellow nerds online’
Eliza reflects on the positives and pitfalls of using social media as a folkie. “It’s a hopeful one for the homemade musician,” she discovers
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Welsh and Basque musicians unite as Galestar Konexioa
An unlikely camaraderie between Welsh and Basque musicians is making its way to Wales
